Paraphilia

Definition of Terms

Sexually aberrant behaviors, otherwise known as paraphilias, are commonly associated with crimes that are sexual and violent in nature. There are hundreds of paraphilia or sexual deviations, and some are more common than are others.

Paraphilia literally means “abnormal love.” Para is a Greek terms for “beyond,” or outside the usual, and philia is a Greek term for “love.” Common exclusively in males, paraphilia is a group of persistent sexual behavior patterns in which unusual objects, fetishes, rituals, or situations are required for sexual arousal and ultimate sexual satisfaction. From a clinical perspective, paraphilia is defined as sexual arousal through objects or situations that are not part of normative arousal. The essential feature of all paraphilia is recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies—sexual urges or behaviors that involve either nonhuman objects, such as fetishes, or the suffering of oneself or partner, children, or other nonconsenting persons. Multiple forms are often found in one person, usually with one dominant paraphilia.

Deviant sexual behaviors exist on a continuum of behaviors and vary in severity. Some forms of paraphilia can be classified as criminal in nature, such as pedophilia or rape, whereas others are regarded as seemingly harmless or nuisance behaviors, such as fetishism or “peeping Toms.” At the extreme end of the continuum lies the paraphilic killer (erotophonophilia), also known as the “lust murderer,” or sexual murderer. There are a number of essential elements to paraphilic behaviors, including fantasy, compulsive masturbation, and facilitators such as alcohol, drugs, and pornography. The role of fantasy is a key component in facilitating the paraphilic behavior, and the use of visual imagery underscores deviant behavior in predators and the offenses they commit.

Paraphilics lack sexual socialization and self-esteem and are socially unable to approach women in a sexually appropriate manner. As a result, fantasy becomes the substitute for human relationships. The individual becomes so wrapped up in his imaginary scenarios that he eventually loses all contact with reality, only to find himself impelled to actualize the fantasy. The fantasy of the paraphilic is erotically charged with themes of dominance and power control, and violent imagery such as sadism, necrosadism, rape, mutilation, cutting, stabbing, and burning of the victim. Masturbation is critical to the paraphilic fantasy system. The paraphilic typically masturbates while imagining the desired paraphilia. Compulsive masturbation essentially reinforces the paraphilic behavior, and the orgasm ultimately becomes conditioned to the paraphilia and the fantasy.

The aforementioned behaviors are conceptualized in an integrated theoretical model proposed by Purcell, which comprises other existing models on sexual murder and serial murder. Within the integrated model is a typology by which one would further understand the complex nature of sexually deviant behavior and which helps establish the role of paraphilia as a motive in sexual offenses, particularly that of the paraphilic, or lust murderer.

The first four components of the integrative model explain the systemic development of paraphilic behavior. Formative development consisting of [Page 346]predispostitional factors and traumatic events, low self-esteem, and early fantasy development are all factors investigated as etiological agents. Paraphilic development, paraphilic stimuli, facilitating behaviors, and an orgasmic conditioning process are interacting elements that comprise the paraphilic process. A stressor, either internal or external, functions as a trigger to past, unresolved trauma. The stressor then causes a momentary lack of control for the paraphilic individual. A response to that stressor is a behavioral manifestation. The individual, unable to cope with the trigger, retreats back into the paraphilic process, where he ultimately finds comfort and relief.

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